Are you traveling this holiday weekend? Even if you aren’t, I’m sure you would agree that the combination of traveling and Thanksgiving helps trigger memories of the 1987 comedy cult classic “Trains, Planes and Automobiles?” It does for me anyway. Come on… who can forget Steve Martin’s obscenity-laced tirade at the rental car counter at the airport in St. Louis? It’s a classic all right. That movie got me thinking about other films, which feature some of the most-memorable airport movie scenes.
Here are some of my favorites:
Airplane–“We’ve got clearance Clarence”, “Roger, Roger”; “What’s Our Vector, Victor?” And of course, the opening credits, which has the theme song to “Jaws” and an airplane simulating a shark.
Honeymoon in Vegas—Remember Nicolas Cage’s classic melt down, his frustrations with the ticket counter attendant, and his reference to “airport jail?”
The V.I.P.s—The movie from 1963 took place in London Airport’s overseas terminal and starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, trying to leave the fogbound pre-Heathrow field.
No Highway in the Sky—The 1951 travel classic featured an eccentric professor (Jimmy Stewart) attempting to stop a possibly doomed airliner from leaving the ground at a vintage Canadian refueling stop.
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium—The movie followed American tourist Suzanne Pleshette and British tour guide Ian McShane. They embark on an 18-day whirlwind tour of Europe that ended with a marriage proposal.
Snakes on a Plane—When Samuel L. Jackson’s character says: “From all the security scenarios that we ran, we have one that never occurred to us.”
Air Force One— When Harrison Ford screams to Gary Oldman’s villain as he is hanging from the open rear cargo door and the plane is at about 30000 feet, “Get off my plane!” and pushes him out.
Other Movies With Classic Travel Scenes:
Airport
Love Actually
Die Hard 2
The Terminal
Red Eye
Catch Me if You Can
Casablanca
Meet the Parents
Do you have a favorite? Can you think of others that I missed?